RF Generation Message Board

 ??? Where do you buy your games at? I am a collector, but I do not buy anything online. All my items I got from thrift stores, game stores, pawn shops, etc. So tell me... Where do your get your games, consoles, & accessories?

There's a good podcast regarding local collecting, if that's what you're interested in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrkaxV0iULc

Personally, I frequent thrift stores, pawn shops, flea markets, yard sales, and my local retro stores for games and accessories.  From time to time, I also check antique shops, which have decent finds on occasion.

don't forget electronics stores like radioshack/the source...they don't normally have much but they do have some things. also bargain bins at the big stores like walmart are good for the newer games. for older stuff, places meant for kids can be good. toy stores for example. also consignment stores, which are usually 99% clothing, sometimes have games...one near me has a small selection of ps2/gamecube/xbox gen stuff.

I second that, I found Gears of War 2 brand new there for $0.46 in 2010. I go anywhere there is a deal.

Really depends on where you live.  Where I live garage sales and flea markets are a bust, and Craig's List is full of $100 Atari 2600 systems, so that leaves thrift stores and pawn shops.  I've found NES systems, a N64, a bunch of Genesis stuff (always a loose Genesis at the thrift stores), a metric ess-ton of PC games, PSX games, and even a SNES power adapter (right when my original one failed).

Blockbuster used to be a great source for modern games (sometimes 50% lower than Gamestop), but that well has dried up.

Play n Trade

Local shop called Worlds Game Store

Thrift Stores

Amazon/Ebay & http://japangamestock.com/

Steam

I live in the Seattle area as well, and I have a hard time finding stuff in the area, lots of resellers.  I mostly just go to the places you have said, about twice a week. Sometimes I am lucky, sometimes I am not.

If you have looked on craigslist you can tell just how much people are going off ebay prices, even for items that are not worth that much really.  So that is a problem in our area. I think it is something you have to deal with when collecting, though. really the question you have to ask yourself is, is this item worth that much to me, or is there a high chance I can find this cheaper, somewhere else. That is how collecting stuff works.  Prices are dependent on how much someone is willing to pay for something.

Wish I could help you more, the only other thing is to make contact with other collectors, that are not douchebags, and are not going to scam you, but people that you can trust to look out for you. If you do become a regular with a person who is just a reseller, hey it could work out in your favor, since he might be willing to give you a deal.

Get in contact with people like that, so if you are looking for something in particular you have more sets of eyes, and better chances of getting lucky. That's what I have been doing, lately.

I hope this bit of info has been helpful, and I am sure this is info that you probably already knew

If there is something you are looking for in particular I can keep an eye out, or if there is something I see that you might interested in, I can give you a heads up. Message me on here, and let me know the types of things you are interested in or are looking for. Maybe you can do the same for me. : )

You know, that's odd, because I've found the exact opposite to be true and I live in the Metro Detroit area as well.  Garage sales have always been the biggest single source of games for me and thrift stores are usually pretty dry.

 

Thanks for the info. I would gladly look out for anything you are looking for.

One of the stores here in Seattle I recommend is Pink Gorilla (Used to be Pink Godzilla)
in the international district (one in west Seattle to now.) Half-Price Books is a GREAT place to find boxed, cheap, & rare items. Seriously

So you're the one sucking up all my garage sale treats!  Lol, I've never had any luck at garage sales (well, nothing more than a few pickups, and that was well over ten years ago).  Last few times I went out I got nothing, and the drain on gas was so high I ended up swearing them off.  Crap, between you, Raz, and Den68 I don't have a chance anymore ;)

Pawn shops, thrift shops and Half Price Books. I usually find enough in these places to keep me satiated.

I moved to a new neighborhood recently too, and am excited about the prospect of hitting up some yard sales this summer. With any luck, I find a few honey holes.

I buy my games on planet Earth from people who are willing to sell them to be.

Mostly at a local independent game store called Destiny Games and thrift stores, which their are plenty of. Thrifts are my main source.

I usually go the the local Play N Trade. Garage sales around here are a waste of time since there's a lot of seniors around here. Same with thrift shops, not much more than a couple of old sports games. Sadly in my area (Central/South New Jersey) there just isn't much aside from clearances at Target/Walmart or going to Gamestop. I usually stick to eBay or Amazon...or even here!

There was a Play N Trade in Meridian last time I went to Idaho. There was a TON of games there!

Thanks! Yeah I have been to Pink Gorilla, its pretty cool, if I am looking for rarities this is a place I go.  Half Price is pretty cool, and I like the idea I can sell my books for video games.

Just let me know what you are looking for, I live in South of Seattle, so I might get to places you don't get to go to. 

I am looking for anything, really. I have a pretty big collection so far. I am particularly looking more pong consoles. Don't have very many. What are you looking for?

I miss Half Price Books. :-/

I do almost all of my buying online or at BestBuy now though since i am primarily shopping for current gen games

I've had limited success with craigslist, local shops, tag sales, etc

I have had GREAT luck in the past at local shops, tag sales, etc though.


Since as i said i am primarily buying newer games and/or extremely specific Mortal Kombat releases i am pretty limited in my options until i branch out again.

Forgot about Newegg. They often have amazing deals. How I got Castlevania Lords of Shadow for 10$

I don't have a big collection really, but these are the items I am most on the look out for. I do not have alot of funds, so I am limited to what I can buy.

I am looking for Castlevania games. 
I am also looking for cheap NES and SNES Konami games. I am also interested in any CIB Sega Genesis Games.

let me know if you come across anything interesting, I will consider buying most things as long as I consider it a good deal.

I'll let you know if I find anything!!  :)

Half Price Books, local chain named Gamers, local stores called Comic City and Game On.  Occasionally I order from Lukie Games when their sales are good,  I've bought from a few members of RF Generation and Famicom World.  I have yet to venture into Ebay-land,  I'm still a bit leary.  Also the usual thrift places, Salvation Army, Goodwill, couple small local ones.

Yard Sales, thrift stores, flea markets, pawn shops.

Craigslist you have to be really on top of.  B/c as soon as something good is posted someone will jump on it.  And you have to filter through all the Xbox 360 crap "EVERYONE" is trying to sell.  It seems like 80% of craigslist posting in st. louis are XBox 360.  LOL

I live in southeast Georgia in a small town, sometimes the local pawn shop gets something in.  There are plenty of yardsales, but I hardly ever find time to go to them.  There is also a flea market about an hour away.  They always have retro games.  Most of my recent games though, have been coming from fellow RF Genners and NA members.

And if they don't get to it first, they start trying to screw over the person that did.  It seems like every time I find something on Craigslist, when I meet up with the guy selling he always tells me "Yeah, after we talked I got a bunch of emails from people saying that I'm charging to little and I should charge you more than what I was asking".  Luckily all of the people that I run into don't fall for that.  Bunch of dicks around here.

Around here very rarely do I find the outstanding deals anymore.  When I started collecting again a couple of years ago CL was the poop.  I found a 3DO FZ1 with games for $35, a boxed Virtual Boy with games for $50, and many others.  But it's fizzled out for some time to where all I see is current gens, $100 NES consoles, and $10 PS2 sports games.  I even tried to post some wanted ads for older PCs, electronics, and game systems.  No responses, except a guy that thought his Atari 2600 Pac-Man cart must be worth something. 

I make a weekly trip to Play 'n' Trade, as everyone knows, and get some great deals with what walks through their doors, but retro is not usually their thing anymore.  I even found out recently that one of their employees has been tossing boxes and manuals for some time because he thought they were a hindrance to his stocking shelves and didn't understand collectability.  Asshole!                 Sorry.

Thrift stores are fun to visit because I look for oddities like classic PDAs, stand-alone handhelds, and an assortment of items others around me like to collect.  But the game pickings are usually slim there also.  So what do I do to collect?  I do the evil.

I go online to find games I want to collect and play.  Yeah I'm terrible, but when I want to snag Gizmondo, N-Gage, Famicom, Wonderswan, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, Zodiac, or other fun rarities; do I really feel guilty about eBay and other sites?  Not even a little.  At some point, you have to separate your collector side with your player side. 

Depends on the price, availability and also what version they have. I try to get proper Australian versions when possible. Sadly stores importing cheaper euro copies make it harder than it should be.

I start with local stores, JB Hi-Fi, K-Mart, Harvey Norman, Target, Big W, etc. When that isn't an option over to eBay I go.

This.  Well, except for the Mortal Kombat part.  :)

i go for local if i can, but i don't drive so it's difficult for me to get around to some stores by bus. there's only one really good retro game store around here, and a couple mostly overpriced pawn shops, and then of course eb games. mostly i have to go the ebay route like techie, especially for n64 CIB...those are really uncommon around here and when i do find anything it's always just the commons that i already have.